Hard work key for Yann, during international break

Kermorgant focusing on hard work, to come back stronger after the break

Royals forward Yann Kermorgant says he will be working hard over the international break to come back stronger when the Sky Bet Championship resumes at the beginning of April.

The striker is determined, like the rest of the team, to start picking up wins after a run of difficult results and feels when the players return from international duty it is a chance for the team to push on for the final fixtures.

“I will be training hard over the international break,” said Kermorgant. “Getting in the gym and doing lots of running. Some of the lads will be on international duty and those of us who aren’t will be training and working hard.

“It was a disappointment to us to not take three points into the international break, but we have to learn from every mistake, and we’re determined to come back stronger in the next game.”

Despite recent results, the forward has a positive outlook and says that is reflected in the squad as a whole, which is something he has been impressed by since joining the club in January.

“The mentality at the club is good, the spirit and attitude of the players is great – we want to win," he continued.

“We will work hard to get better and after the international break will come back fresher and stronger."

The winter arrival feels he is starting to get a better understanding with the players around him on the pitch, with his teammates beginning to read his game; Royals fans would have seen evidence in the link-up play for Garath McCleary’s goal against Cardiff in our last outing.

“It was a great finish from Garath; he said to me, ‘I’m going to be in behind looking for your flick-on’," explained the striker. "He knew he was going to get the ball from me and his finishing was perfect.

“When we play with one up front, I’m used as a target man and I need to lay the ball off for the midfielders,” continued Kermorgant. “When using a target man you need players like McCleary and Ola John to get on the end of the passes and that’s something we’re starting to do more regularly now.

“We should have maybe scored one or two more against Cardiff - we got only one point when we should have got three.”